Bears in Flight: Book Four - Supernatural Bounty Hunters Romance Novellas (11 page)

She shivered and pulled out her phone. She should call Logan. She should tell him what was happening. He’d be angry and storm right over to her; he’d pull her into his arms, they’d kiss, his fingers would delve through her panties…

Whoa! She flushed as her thoughts turned erotic. Well, it had been a few days since they were together… Mia chastised herself – three days was nothing.
Lord, she was turning sex mad.

But still, she should call him. Rift, argument, deep chasm – whatever it was between them, she was sure he would still want to know about what was happening. And on a selfish note, just hearing his voice would make her feel better.

She was disappointed when the call went straight to voicemail. What was he doing? Had he turned his phone off so he could spend quality time with his wife?
Ooh, her rabbit was a green eyed little beast.

She left a message informing him that she was at her parents’ house, and thought he would want to know. Impulsively, she told him she missed him and then feeling completely awkward she ended the call. Why was it awkward? He was her mate.
Sigh
.

Mia slumped on the couch, trying to clear her mind. She was doing well until her father barreled back into the room, making her jump.

She frowned at the tousled state of his hair and his slightly puffy lips.
Oh! He’d been making out with her mom!
She did not need to know that. And why was she so jealous that her parents were actually getting some loving?
Ugh, she needed help.

Matthew rolled his eyes at her and strode over to his desk, pursing his lips at the laptop that had played the offending video. “Our guest will be arriving any moment.”

Mia’s eyes widened in panic. “What guest?”

Matthew regarded her coolly. “I asked someone to come round to meet you. Of course, that was before all this.” He gestured to the laptop.

Mia scratched her arm nervously. “Wait, didn’t you ask me to come round because of the… ummm…”

“No,” he replied tersely. “That was just a nasty surprise. I invited you to meet someone.”

“Can’t you cancel?”

His lips twisted into a semblance of a smile, but there was no joy in it. The good mood her mom had given him sure hadn’t lasted.

“He is coming here, and you will be polite. After the day I’ve had, I expect a little normalcy.”

“But, Daddy, I…”

Matthew held up his hand to silence her. “You said yourself that this boyfriend,” he took a moment to mull over the word, “isn’t in the picture anymore. So, you can give this man a chance. He’s a friend of a friend, and quite well-off.”

Mia frowned. “That’s not important to me.”

“Maybe not, baby girl, but it doesn’t hurt.”

She opened her mouth to voice another objection but quickly changed her mind when she saw the ‘don’t-fuck-with-me’ look on her dad’s face. Instead, in spite of her rabbit’s twitters, she muttered her acquiescence.

Satisfied, he ushered her out of his office. Feeling out of sorts, and a little like a spare tire, she made her way to her old bedroom. She hadn’t lived there for over seven months, but nothing had changed.

Ugh, dinner with another one of her father’s ‘suitors.’ Oh well, she could get through it. Her mom’s cooking was worth the aggravation.
Just about.

She just wished Logan would call her. She wished she had listened to him; she wished she hadn’t been so angry at him. Not that she wasn’t still hopping mad – and as a rabbit that was very apt, but, at least she’d have a few more answers.

She lay back on her bed and sighed. She was in her childhood room waiting for a boy to call her.
Was she reverting to her teenage years?

“Call me, Logan, please,” she murmured.

Chapter Twelve

Monday

Logan groaned as someone kicked him.

Jesusmotherfuckinghelldamnshit!
He felt like someone had run him over with a truck. From experience, he knew what that was like. His bear growled as he tried to move his sluggish body.
What the fuck happened?

He rolled over slowly and blinked up at two stony-faced and disheveled patrol officers. “Finally, sleeping beauty awakens,” one of them sneered.

“Fuck you,” mumbled Logan.

“Asshole!” spat the other and prepared to give Logan another kick.

“Alright, take it easy guys,” said an amused yet steely voice.

The patrol officers grunted and walked away. Logan slowly sat up and huffed as a shirt, and a pair of sweatpants was thrown at his head. He glared up at Detective Wyatt Leeman. The lion shifter was giving him a humorless smile.

“Put those on,” ordered Wyatt, “no one here wants what you’ve got to offer.”

His bear growled, and he looked round at the various cops, park maintenance workers, and animal control officers. None of them were particularly friendly or happy to see him awake.
He could give a fuck.
He narrowed his eyes and let out a small snarl; he was gratified to see the flare of fear on their faces.

Logan scratched his head; he was at the entrance of Grimm Park. He wondered how long he’d been there.

After he… after they… after Mia kicked him out of her apartment, he’d needed to let the bear loose. The animal had been cooped up for far too long, and he was at breaking point. The thought of losing Mia had terrified him, and the fact that he his aggression scared her filled him with horror.
He wasn’t that guy.
The last thing he ever wanted to do was intimidate his little mate, and yet, inadvertently, he had.

Slowly, he rose to his feet and pulled on the tight clothes. They were both emblazoned with the Playa Lunar Police Department logo. He cocked an eyebrow at Wyatt. “Yours?”

Wyatt’s gaze softened a little. “Yeah, but you keep them. I doubt they’ll mold themselves back to my svelte figure after you’re through with them.”

Logan scoffed. “Sure.” He may have height on the six-foot-four lion, but the Detective was packing some pretty ferocious muscles. The Detective’s usual uniform was a suit, shirt, and tie, and he always bulged out of his suit, making the uncomfortable clothes look downright torturous.

Wyatt folded his arms. “Do you remember what happened?”

Logan gazed at him levelly. “Ah, sort of.”

After leaving Mia, he went straight to Grimm Park. He almost didn’t make it; his bear almost pushed his way out on the ride over. The moment he arrived he jumped out and ran for the cover of the trees, spouting fur and shedding clothes as he went.

After that, he’d been lost to the baser needs of his animal. He’d spent hours running and chasing various wildlife.
Not rabbits
. He couldn’t bear hurting a rabbit; not now and never again.

A lot of what happened was kind of a blur. Logan had been content to relinquish control to his beast completely, and he had just gone with the flow. He had vague recollections of running, bothering a few critters and possibly ruining a few picnics.

“What time is it?” Logan looked around and sniffed. “What day is it?”

Wyatt raised an eyebrow. “It’s 11am and it’s Monday. Animal Control started getting calls about a wild bear from about noon yesterday. How long were you in there?”

Since his heart was ripped out of his chest.
“Since Saturday morning.”

The lion exhaled loudly. “Jeez.”

Logan yawned groggily and his bear stretched out lazily. “I feel funny.”

Wyatt’s lips twitched, almost as if he was trying not to laugh. “Yeah, that’ll be the tranqs.”

“Tranqs!”
Fuck
.

“Don’t look so shocked, everyone thought there was a wild bear on a rampage. It wasn’t until they were trying to knock you out that they realized. Took three times as much to take you down as it would a regular bear.” Wyatt paused eyeing him curiously. “You were really worked up about something.”

No kidding
. His bear snarled at him. This could all have been avoided if he’d just tied Mia to her bed and forced her to listen to him. Logan hushed the sullen beast; that plan wasn’t good on Saturday and wasn’t good now either.

He needed to talk to her. He’d allowed his bear two whole days to wallow, and now he needed to talk to her. He needed to tell her what she wanted to know, and if she chose to leave him because of it… then it was just a risk he would have to take.

The lion cleared his throat, interrupting Logan’s miserable reverie. “I hate to have to tell you this, but, you know the she-bear you and Marcus bailed out?”

His bear went on high, suspicious alert. “Yeah?”

“She didn’t turn up for court today. Her or her boyfriend.”

Logan rolled his eyes heavenwards.
Fuck, this was all he needed
. “Am I under arrest?”

The Detective gave him a hard stare before sighing. “Not this time, just don’t let it happen again. The Park maintenance workers found your keys, wallet and your phone – you must have dropped them when you were shifting. There’s no money left in the wallet.”

Logan shrugged; there wasn’t any in there anyway. Wyatt handed them over, and Logan tried his phone. Fuck, it was dead.

“Guess you were in a rush. They found your clothes too, what was left of them. They weren’t worth saving.”

Logan grunted in assent.

Wyatt gave him his best cop face. “You remember where you parked your car? You okay to drive?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure. Ah, thanks.”

To the bear’s surprise the Detective chuckled. “Sure, nice diversion from the case I’m working on anyway.” His expression darkened before he let out another sigh. He nodded in the direction of the men who were staring at Logan, warily. “I better go smooth things over with those guys; they’ve had a tough morning. I suggest you get out of here before they really get pissed.”

Logan snorted in their direction as his bear roared. A couple of them flinched, and the Animal Control guys looked like they were going to a funeral.
Let them try something
. The only thing his romp in the Park hadn’t included was a nice, juicy fight with someone. And he was itching to do just that with anyone who happened to cross his path.

However… if he started a fight, the Detective might be inclined to arrest him, and he really did have a luscious little mate who needed attention. Hopefully, she will have cooled down a little. Although, he prayed she hadn’t been worried about him. Maybe she’d been trying to call him. Hope and guilt bloomed within him.

He needed to get home and charge his phone.
Pronto
.

Oh yeah, then he needed to look for his errant wife.
Ugh, freaking Maya!
With any luck, she’d be hanging around his apartment, although he doubted he’d be that lucky, or she’d be that dumb.

His bear growled at him smugly.
Yeah, yeah – the beast knew this would happen.

For now, he wasn’t thinking about Maya. For now, he was going to worry about his mate. She was the most important thing to him and right now she deserved all his attention.

*

Mia smiled politely, and John gave her a disarming smile in return. Her rabbit griped at her to quit it. Okay, so he was less objectionable than the other men her father had paraded in front of her. That didn’t mean she was going to do anything rash like slap on a white dress and run down the aisle with him.

Dinner the night before had been surprisingly pleasant, especially given the earlier upset of the day. Her father had still been aloof in spite of her mom’s unfailing attempts to perk him up, and Holt had turned tomato red whenever Mia had looked at him.

John was different from the other men she’d met. For one thing, his gaze was not simpering, fearful or arrogant. It was… speculative. He had eyed all her family with something akin to curiosity, marred by the smile of someone laughing at his own private joke. Mia wasn’t sure how she’d felt about that. But here she was, seeing him for the second time in two days.
Not out of choice of course.

John was apparently very keen on antiquities; in particular he took an interest in magical antiquities and had waxed lyrical about them at dinner. Her brothers had been bored stiff; her father had maintained a restrained politeness and Mia had just muttered umm and aah now again to make him think she was actually listening. Only her mom had actually been interested in what he was saying. It wasn’t that John was boring or anything like that; it’s just that her dad was in no mood to talk about anything with any zeal and Mia’s thoughts were occupied with more pressing events.

John hadn’t seemed to mind.
He was far too charming and well-mannered.

Dispassionately, Mia had assessed him. He was smart, clearly successful, witty, well groomed, tall – at least compared to her, devilishly handsome and absolutely perfect husband material. Plus there was something so familiar about him; it was almost comforting. She thought she’d scented something when they first met, but now she couldn’t put her nose on it. But, in spite of his good qualities, he came up incredibly short compared to her disheveled, gruff bear.
At least in her eyes.

It was actually starting to annoy her little beast just how perfect this guy was. Even her brothers didn’t have any objections to him. Although, they did think he was a little boring. But, by their standards, that didn’t mean anything.

Then, Mr. Perfect had invited her family to brunch at the Playa Lunar Metropolitan Art Museum the following day. Mia had wanted to say hell no!
Politely, of course
. But, her dad immediately said yes, that he and his mate and his daughter would love to go.

Mia squeaked in protestation and was met with a hard glare from her father. Instead, she shrank in her seat and resentfully murmured her assent.

Later she’d tried to come up with an excuse, but her father wouldn’t hear of it. He’d even called Marcus and told him she wouldn’t be into work. She felt like she was 13 again.

So here she was…

Okay, so any normal day she would love to be here. She’d never usually be invited to this kind of place, but John was a member of the Board of Trustees, so she was there, sipping champagne and nibbling on a strawberry.

This was definitely her kind of thing, but… it did feel kind of hollow without Logan. Where was the fun of looking at all these beautiful pieces if you weren’t being tailed by a bear commenting on how good that one would look in his living room, or how he used to have a shower curtain with that one on…

She smiled at the memory, and her little rabbit twittered with affection. She’d only taken Logan to one museum so far, but she had big plans for the future. Or maybe, she used to have plans for the future. She still wasn’t sure where she stood with him. He still hadn’t called since she left him that phone message telling him she missed him. Maybe something had happened to him. Oh lord, maybe he was injured and couldn’t get to a phone.
He could be lying the road bleeding to death at that very moment!

Her phone suddenly chirruped, and she let out a small squeal of alarm, garnering numerous disapproving frowns.

Mia smiled apologetically and fished out her phone. She felt a stab of joy and nervousness as she saw the oh-so-familiar caller ID.

Taking a deep breath she answered. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Logan said softly.

“Thank you for calling me back.”
And she was thankful – truly.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call you right away.”

She smiled at warmth in his voice, and he continued. “I was…ummm shifted; I didn’t shift back until half an hour ago.”

Mia gasped. That was a long time for a shift. “You were shifted since yesterday afternoon?”

He laughed ruefully. “Baby, I shifted about twenty minutes after we… ah… after I left you.”

“You’ve been your bear for the whole weekend?” she squawked.

“Well, yeah,” he admitted awkwardly.

Mia felt a burst of panic. Shifters who spent too long as their beast could often start to lose control, and were unable to function as their human selves. The consequences could be horrific. “But why? That’s dangerous – why would you do that?”

Logan struggled to answer. “I don’t know. My bear just needed it. I was so angry.”

She paused. “At me?”

“Fuck, no!” he exclaimed loudly down the phone, so loud, in fact, that several other patrons at the museum gave her a funny look. “Never you, baby,” he said softly. “I was angry at myself for hurting you, for being too cowardly to tell you the truth and for scaring you. This is all on me, baby. Nothing is going on with my wife – we parted years before I ever met you. I didn’t tell you about her, because that’s a part of my life I’m not very proud of, and once you hear about it, you may not want to know me anymore. It’s hard for me because I know I’m not good enough for you. You’re so perfect, and I feel like this dirty old bear trying to take advantage of this sweet, young bunny. And my only excuse is that I can’t live without you. The thought of a future without you terrifies me; it’s like the sun will never rise again, and I’ll be in darkness for the rest of my life.”